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In Memory 

of 

Joseph Hodges Choate 






Addresses at a Special Meeting of 
The Union League Club 

of New York 
May 24th, 1917 






INDEX 

PAGE 

Mr. Hughes 3 

Resolutions ------ 10 

Mr. Guthrie - - - - - - 12 

Mr. Rushmore - - - - - 18 

Mr. Depew -"' - - - - - 20 



lift 

Mrs. Opal Logan Ku 
July 27, -1933 



SPECIAL MEETING 

OF THE 

UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF NEW YORK 

MAY 24, 1917 
IN MEMORY OF THE LATE 

JOSEPH HODGES CHOATE 



THE PRESIDENT, CHARLES EVANS HUGHES— Gen- 
tlemen of the Union League Club, we have gathered to- 
night to pay our tribute of love and of admiration to the 
memory of Joseph Hodges Choate. (Applause.) We are 
met here in the goodly fellowship of this Club, to which for 
fifty years he sustained the most intimate relations. I be- 
lieve that Mr. Choate became a member of this Club in 1867, 
and forty-four years ago, in 1873, he became President of 
the Club ; and from that time until the day of his death he 
was actively interested in all that pertained to the welfare 
of the Club and in all that it did as an institution for the 
good of society. 

It was only the other day, when upon this platform, as 
you will remember, with the rapier of his wit as keen as 
ever, and with eloquence undiminished, he voiced the patri- 
otic sentiment of this Club. You remember that he said that 
if the words he then uttered were his last words, he should 
feel that he had breathed them in the actual service of his 
country. (Applause.) 

It is fascinating to think of the vast development which 
took place within the space of a single life, of all the great 
events of which he was the witness, of the extraordinary 
activities in which he played such a distinguished part. 



When Mr. Choate was born, Thomas Jefferson had been 
dead only six years. When Mr. Choate was born, Jackson 
had not yet completed his first term as President of the 
United States. William L. Marcy was Governor of New 
York. Chief Justice Marshall and Justice Story still sat 
in the Supreme Court of the United States. Webster was at 
the height of his power in the United States. Charles 
O'Conor was a young lawyer who had been at the Bar of 
New York for a very few years. When Mr. Choate was born 
in Salem, Massachusetts, the home of American letters, Bos- 
ton was a city of only 60,000 ; New York, the metropolis, had 
only 200,000. Railroads were in their beginning, and all the 
interlacing communications of this day were unknown. What 
was more, while we were a nation in organization, while we 
were a great nation in promise, we were still without the 
national consciousness upon which alone the national pros- 
perity could be based ; and we were without that great ex- 
pansion of settlement and activity which made it possible 
for us to attain that remarkable degree of development 
which the close of the last century witnessed. Mr. Choate 
came to young manhood when the nation was in the balance, 
when it was still an open question whether we should 
continue to have a nation. He came to young manhood 
in the critical period before the Civil War, and when 
the war was over, Mr. Choate, in the prime of his 
strength, entered that period a king among men, notable in 
intellectual power, notable in facility of adaptation, notable 
in his complete grasp of the affairs of his time ; Mr. Choate 
entered upon that extraordinary period which succeeded 
the Civil War, to be in great part one of the makers of the 
United States, which, as a nation, then began to take the 
shape with which we are now familiar. It was a fortunate 
life, a life of rare fortune, but perhaps most fortunate in 
the fact that in the period of its highest efficiency it coin- 
cided with this period of extraordinary national progress. 
Mr. Choate gave himself loyally to the service of this 
City. We were impaired, weakened, corrupted, by the 



misuse of the opportunities which the rapid expansion of 
the City provided. The year 1870 marked the deepest 
depth of the degradation of New York, and Mr. Choate, 
with others of that day, men of the highest mental power, 
men of the greatest social influence, gave himself in the 
determined fight against the strongholds of iniquity and 
corruption in this town, and we owe to him and those that 
fought with him what we now enjoy in New York in free- 
dom, in purity, in efficiency, in our City Government. (Ap- 
plause.) That was the time when it was demonstrated 
once for all that there were certain conditions which the 
people of this City would never tolerate, and the downfall 
of Tweed was the omen for all time that those who would 
corrupt the opportunities of municipal life must sooner or 
later meet the awakened conscience of the people, and that 
the leaders of the bar, strong in their individual prestige 
and independent of all influence, could always be counted 
upon in that strife to stand for civic purity. 

It was a great service to the City of New York which he 
rendered in his young manhood, and from that time until 
the present time there was never needed a voice to speak 
for honesty and good government in the City of New York 
but what Mr. Choate could be depended upon to furnish 
the most eloquent voice that could speak in its behalf. 
(Applause.) 

You recall his services to the State. He was a member 
of the Commission of 1890, a Commission which expended a 
great deal of effort in proposing a revision of the State 
Constitution with respect to the organization of our 
courts. The work of that Commission at the time seemed an 
utter failure, but in very large part the work of the conven- 
tion of 1894 was the fruition of the work of the Commission 
in 1890. To a very great degree Mr. Choate's personal ef- 
forts in connection with the work of the Commission of 1890, 
prepared the way for the beneficent changes which were 
made in relation to our judicial system by the Conven- 
tion of 1894. Mr. Choate gave himself in both undertak- 



ings unstintedly. I recall now that it was Mr. Choate who 
proposed in the Commission of 1890, an amendment to the 
effect that the Legislature might, within certain limitations, 
further restrict the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals. 
That provision was embodied in the Constitution of 1894, 
and that work, then so well done, made it possible at this 
session of the Legislature to secure much needed relief for 
the Court of Appeals and a better arrangement of our Ap- 
pellate Jurisdiction. So it is that good work seldom fails of 
its fruit, and that we, in 1917 go back 27 years to the mo- 
tion of Mr. Choate in the Commission of 1890, as the source 
of a very important measure whose benefits I believe, law- 
yers and litigants alike will share in the coming day. I have 
spoken of that Commission and also of the Convention in 
connection with it. You recall Mr. Choate's relation to the 
Constitutional Convention of 1894, and in his opening ad- 
dress and in his closing words I think that he very faith- 
fully portrayed his attitude toward public affairs. I shall 
not attempt to quote his exact language, but the pith of it 
was this : "Our people have been prosperous, they have been 
happy, they have developed under" — what he called "that 
ancient structure" — the Constitution of 1846, which was 
younger than himself — "Are we here," said he in substance, 
"to ignore the work of the past? Are we here to re-create, 
or are we skillfully and with wisdom to repair, amend, im- 
prove, taking advantage of all the good we find, and mak- 
ing the new instrument in a very true sense the outgrowth 
of the old, aided by our experience under its provisions?" 
He was desirous of progress, but never at the expense of 
sanity, and to his mind political progress was an evolution, 
and those contributed in the most important degree to real 
measures of reform who could best take note of what 
had been gleaned from the experience of the ages, and 
could so relate the past, the present and the future, that 
in moving onward with greater opportunity for collective 
advantages, we would always safeguard the genius of our 

6 



institutions and the spirit by which they were established 
and by which alone individual liberty can be maintained. 

But the greatest service that Mr. Choate rendered was 
in a broader sphere. He had had the most active profes- 
sional life, he had found many opportunities of service, 
and his professional life was itself a great service by virtue 
of the spirit which animated it, and by reason of the example 
it afforded. It was reserved, however, for him at a time 
when most men are thinking of relinquishing the burdens of 
an active life, it was reserved for him at the very summit of 
his career to embark upon a new venture in the interest of 
the nation. At the age of 67, virtually retiring from practice-, 
he went to St. James, as the Ambassador of the United 
States, and there be represented the country in a manner 
which made every true American proud of her representa- 
tive. I do not suppose we ever had anyone abroad who so 
endeared America to those to whom he was accredited, as 
our Ambassador to England. They recognized his intel- 
lectual power, they admired his wit, and they also knew 
that he sought no effects abroad at the expense of his 
patriotic duty to his country. (Applause.) 

He was just as much of an American in London as he 
was in New York, and he never failed on any public occa- 
sion where he addressed the people of Great Britain to 
show that stout Americanism which they thoroughly 
respected. 

Would that we could have a legion of such Ambassa- 
dors! If we could look into the future and find this coun- 
try represented abroad by such men as Mr. Choate, we 
could indeed count on the honor and prestige of the United 
States being maintained to the satisfaction of all our people, 
and we would do quite as much to avoid the awful chance of 
war as we could accomplish by formal agreements and con- 
ventions. (Applause.) 

Mr. Choate gave America distinction abroad, such was 
his greatness. It was natural that he should be the head 
of our delegation to the second peace conference at The 



Hague in 1907. There he took a commanding position; 
there he was not simply of great service to the United 
States, but of the greatest service to the world, for he was 
there sitting in the councils of the nations, seeking nothing 
for the United States which could possibly be at the 
disadvantage of any other power, but in an enlightened 
manner, endeavoring to lay the foundations of the temple of 
peace. I want to read you a word from his lectures upon 
The Hague Conferences to show you how clear-sighted he 
was in contemplating the future. These words he wrote 
in 1912, in summarizing what had been done at the Hague 
conferences : 

Said he: "We do not delude ourselves with the idea 
that there will be no more wars, or that talking or confer- 
ring or arbitrating will put an end to them. Righteous and 
necessary wars there may yet be, but only righteous and 
necessary on one side, like our own struggle for indepen- 
dence in 1776, and the life and death contest of 1861 for 
the preservation of the Union and the extirpation of slavery. 
But the work for peace is going on well, the conscience of 
the world is thoroughly aroused and determined, and per- 
haps thousands now living will see the day when war, as a 
means of settling international disputes, will be as generally 
condemned as the duel and slavery and the slave trade are 
today. 

"Perhaps this is also another dream! But who can tell? 

'Blind unbelief is sure to err 
And scan His work in vain; 
God is His own interpreter 
And He will make it plain.' " 

Mr. Choate enjoyed the distinction of extraordinary 
ability. It seemed an easy mastery, that mastery of his 
over every problem which was presented to him. No one 
could come into close relation to him in any matter calling 
for keen analysis and close study without observing the 
apparent ease with which he did the things which to others 
seemed so difficult. I remember the first time I met him 



in the early days of my practice, when it was my privilege 
to act as his junior; how surprised I was that in a matter 
of some importance he could seem to be so entirely un- 
moved, so easy, so completely master of a difficult and com- 
plicated set of facts. He was a very distinguished man in 
intellectual power, but this country erects no monuments 
to shrewdness. Much as we admire skill and ability, we 
do not meet in memorial meetings simply to pay our tribute 
to mere smartness or acumen. 

Mr. Choate was a leader in many fields; he was a leader 
in service; he was a leader in character; his was the leader- 
ship of the well-balanced mind, of the keen sense of humor, 
of the comprehensive grasp ; his was the leadership of lucid- 
ity; his was the leadership of candor; his was the leader- 
ship of courage. 

A great lawyer, but a far greater man, a great states- 
man, great representative of his country, but great in these 
distinguished spheres of usefulness because he always 
brought to his service that dignity and poise and fearless- 
ness and candor, and that capacity for straight seeing which 
made everybody feel that he was in the presence of a 
master among men. But, in the midst of his mastery, he had 
a kindly spirit and the human touch. We are here tonight 
admirers of Mr. Choate, but we are here because we loved 
him. We knew him in the fellowship of this Club; we 
knew him as a man with whom we could come into close 
relationship, albeit we recognized his unapproachable 
power. The poet has said : "Are not great men the models 
for nations?" Mr. Choate's life was a life of rare distinc- 
tion. We are sad that he is gone, but we are all the richer 
for knowing him, and we shall never escape, whether in 
professional activities, in civic life or in our international 
relationship the force and the beneficence of his example. 
(Applause.) 

MR. WILLIAM D. MURPHY: Mr. President and gen- 
tlemen of the Union League Club : Subject to the approval 
of the Chair, I have the honor of offering the following 



brief preamble and resolution, purposely made brief. The 
canvas is so large, the subject so great, we can but epito- 
mize the thought that is in every heart tonight : 

WHEREAS: Joseph Hodges Choate, em- 
inent in all his walks in life and preeminent in 
the hearts of his fellow-citizens, entered into 
rest on May the fourteenth, 1917, in the eighty- 
sixth year of his age. 

In this Club, whose rolls have been long 
honored by his name, as a member since 1867, 
as President from 1873 to 1876 and as an 
Honorary Member since 1903, the death of Mr. 
Choate falls with a special severity and awakens 
deepest sympathy. 

In this environment it would be a task super- 
fluous to relate the vivid features of his long, 
triumphant life ; to detail his vast successes, or 
to recount the numerous honors heaped upon 
him. The records of great universities on both 
sides of the sea, the annals of the American Bar 
and the history of international diplomacy, each 
and all bear lasting testimony to his genius and 
well-deserved fame. 

Of good New England stock, he came to give 
a vital definition to Longfellow's sententious 
estimate of the Puritan Captain Miles Standish : 

"Great of heart, magnanimous, courtly, 
courageous." 

When Mr. Choate's voice was raised in ad- 
vocacy of the eternal principles of rectitude 
and patriotism, it verily portrayed the lines of 
Alexander Pope: 

"Pour the full tide of eloquence along. 
Serenely pure, and yet divinely strong." 

To Mr. Choate was given the supreme bless- 
ing of arriving at the wisdom and distinction of 

10 



age without revealing the penalties of his ad- 
vancing years. 

Never did he stand more gracefully or more 
majestically in the public eye than during those 
last days, when he filled a part exacting and 
conspicuous in the civic ceremonials of welcome 
to the Allied Commissioners of France and Eng- 
land, thus welding fast the ties of brotherhood 
which his influence had been so potential in 
establishing. 

Overshadowed by such a character and over- 
awed by such a loss, the phrases of eulogium 
sound trite indeed, since on every hand we hear 
their repetition by countless voices giving ex- 
pression to a universal sentiment. Therefore, 
be it 

RESOLVED : That we, the members of The 
Union League Club, in special meeting as- 
sembled, hereby place upon the records of the 
Club this testimonial of our abiding admira- 
tion, esteem and love for the exalted character 
and unmatched personality of our late fellow- 
member, Joseph Hodges Choate; 

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED : That 
a copy of these resolutions be tendered to the 
bereaved family in token of our profound 
sympathy. 

GEN. THOS. L. WATSON, First Vice-President: Mr. 
President, I deem it a special privilege to be permitted, al- 
though in but a word, to second the resolutions presented 
by Mr. Murphy, and which so expressly and beautifully 
carry the sentiment, the esteem, the regard and the honor 
with which we all held our former President, Joseph H. 
Choate. 

THE PRESIDENT: Before we take action upon the 
resolutions, I will ask Mr. Guthrie to address the Club. 

11 



MR. WILLIAM D. GUTHRIE: Mr. President, Mr. 
Depew and Fellow-Members of the Union League Club : 

It is only a week since we joined reverently and sadly 
in the nation's homage to the earthly remains of the most 
brilliant and the most venerated member of this Club. Our 
bereavement is still too fresh and overwhelming and too 
many memories crowd upon our minds to permit us to com- 
pose our thoughts and find words fitting to voice what we 
all deeply feel or to express our appreciation of a truly 
great personality, who was the noblest and sweetest char- 
acter of our day and whom we are grateful to have known 
and loved. 

Mr. Choate was so versatile and his interests were so 
numerous that the many groups of friends and associates 
with whom he co-operated naturally feel that to each group 
belongs as its own special heritage some particular phase 
of his glorious and beneficent career. 

He was the ideal and the most brilliant ornament of the 
American Bar, and his splendid talents and unblemished 
honor were its pride and inspiration. To the Bar, there- 
fore, should be left the memorial of his services and fame 
as an advocate and jurist. The due appreciation of his 
broad and varied culture, of his taste in literature, of his 
love of nature, of his interest in science and art, rests 
peculiarly with the universities, museums and academies to 
whose work he devoted so much time and thought and to 
which he was always ready to give his best. The tribute 
to his philanthropy and his manifold services and sacrifices 
in the field of charity should be entrusted to those who wit- 
nessed his innumerable acts of generosity and actively 
shared his profound sympathy for the unfortunate. The 
many who had the good fortune — I should say the priceless 
privilege and blessing — of enjoying his friendship cannot 
yet attempt to describe the charm of his pure and noble 
character and the affectionate devotion which he inspired. 

But the aspect of Mr. Choate's life and service which 
we of the Union League Club may well claim as our own 

12 



sphere is his militant patriotism. He profoundly believed 
in the patriotic mission of this Club, and for half a century- 
it was very close to his heart. He passionately loved this 
country of ours, its ideals, its institutions, its liberty regu- 
lated by just restraints, its equality before the law, its guar- 
anties of the fundamental rights of free men. To him the 
Constitution was our Ark of the Covenant. He was never 
more ardent or more eloquent than when defending the 
Constitution and contending for the constitutional rights of 
the individual. Often have those who were privileged to 
discuss with him the subject of patriotism been thrilled and 
uplifted by his supreme confidence that the National Con- 
stitution would endure and that the Union and government 
established by it "shall not perish from the earth." 

Throughout his career Mr. Choate believed that the 
primary duty of the profession is to the State, and that the 
greatest and grandest service that an advocate can ever 
be called upon to perform is in relation to questions of 
public or constitutional law, as an expert instrumentality 
especially charged with the duty of conserving and promot- 
ing the well-being of our governments, national and local. 
The interests of the individual client in any particular liti- 
gation involving a question of public law were to him sec- 
ondary to the interests of the commonwealth. In this re- 
spect, he adopted in his professional conduct the principle 
of the Romans, that the constant and first duty of the advo- 
cate is always to the Republic. As often quoted by Mr. 
Choate, "pro clientibus saepe; pro lege, pro republica 
semper." 

Any attempt to chronicle the public movements in which 
Mr. Choate engaged and to which he devoted so much of 
his best thought and effort would require a review of the 
history of our country since 1856. He came to New York 
in 1855, at the age of twenty-three, and the next year he 
was prominent in support of Fremont as the first Republi- 
can candidate for the office of President of the United 
States. From 1856, practically every political campaign 

13 



saw him in the foreground advocating the sound and patri- 
otic principles of the Republican Party. Indeed, with his 
convictions, he could not have been other than a Republican. 
His conspicuous services in 1871 and 1872 as one of the 
fearless and eloquent champions of the Committee of Sev- 
enty in its campaign against the Tweed Ring, led to his elec- 
tion as President of the Club in 1873, when he was only 
forty-one years of age. And year after year he was always, 
as you will readily recall, among the leaders in the patriotic 
activities of this Club. 

Three outstanding public services rendered by Mr. 
Choate call for particular mention. The first public office 
he held was that of President of the Constitutional Conven- 
tion of the State of New York in 1894, when he guided the 
deliberations of that body in framing the Constitution by 
virtue of which we are still governed. His second public 
office was as Ambassador to the Court of St. James, where 
he did more than probably any of his predecessors in that 
important post to bring the two peoples closer together, to 
inspire at once respect and admiration for American ideals 
and institutions and American culture, and to show how fine 
an advocate, scholar and gentleman the new world could 
produce. A third conspicuously valuable and fruitful pub- 
lic service was rendered by Mr. Choate at the Second Hague 
Conference, where he placed the United States in the posi- 
tion of leadership in the advocacy of sound principles of 
international relations. 

Moreover, Mr. Choate during his whole professional 
career constantly rendered inestimable and enduring pub- 
lic service in the argument of cases involving important 
and far-reaching questions of public and constitutional law. 
It was in such arguments that he was seen at his best, even 
in comparison with his superlative talents before a jury. 
He did not enjoy, it is true, the great and exceptional foren- 
sic opportunities that fell to the lot of his illustrious part- 
ner, Mr. Evarts, who defended a President of the United 
States before the High Court of Impeachment, represented 

14 



the nation before the Geneva Arbitration Tribunal, and suc- 
ceeded in establishing the title of Mr. Hayes to the Presi- 
dency before the Electoral Commission. Such opportunities 
for service and eloquence, however, have fallen to the lot of 
few advocates. Nevertheless, any one who will examine the 
many cases involving constitutional law which were argued 
by Mr. Choate will be amazed to find how varied and exten- 
sive were his services in this particular branch of our juris- 
prudence. He profoundly believed and constantly urged that 
the defense of constitutional government and of the rights 
of the individual is the special and patriotic duty of the pro- 
fession, and that the American constitutional system would 
not long endure or the fundamental rights of the individual 
long continue to be of practical value if the Bar of the 
country should become lukewarm in the performance of the 
duty of upholding those rights and maintaining the essential 
principles of civil liberty and political justice. 

The greatest public lesson taught by Mr. Choate's life 
and the greatest inspiration from his example will undoubt- 
edly be found in his deep-rooted patriotism. Indeed, the 
larger significance of this impressive gathering tonight lies 
not merely in its manifestation of admiration, friendship 
and love for Mr. Choate, but rather in the evidence it af- 
fords of our deep conviction that he more than any other on 
our rolls personified the disinterested love of country from 
which sprang this great patriotic organization, the absolute 
and unqualified loyalty to the national government to which 
its charter expressly dedicates it, and the unalterable and 
uncompromising determination to uphold and maintain 
American constitutional government to which it is com- 
mitted. Mr. Choate was the very incarnation of these con- 
victions and these purposes. 

To a highly cultivated, a reflecting, an imaginative mind, 
the writings of the biography of Mr. Choate should be a 
most inviting and fascinating task. It would carry the 
mind backwards eighty-five years to the Salem of 1832, and 
the close of the first administration of Andrew Jackson, 

15 



when Webster and Clay and Calhoun were in their prime, 
and through the most eventful and fateful years of our na- 
tional history. It would likewise carry the mind backwards 
to the England of William IV., to the France of Louis Phil- 
ippe, to the Prussia of Frederick William III. The biogra- 
pher would, however, have to record that the last three 
years were in Mr. Choate's eyes the most important and in- 
teresting of his life, grandly demonstrating that to him age 
was "opportunity no less than youth itself." From the be- 
ginning of the awful war which now devastates Europe and 
which shattered so many of his hopes, he realized before 
any one else that the Allies were defending our ideals of 
democracy, and in truth fighting, suffering, and sacrificing 
for us. Day after day, night after night, he strove with 
spiritual fervor and eloquence undimmed by age to awaken 
his countrymen and make them recognize their own danger 
and their moral obligations to humanity. 

The last six weeks of his life were replete with happi- 
ness and contentment. The glorious end, indeed, crowned 
the work of a lifetime of patriotic service. President Wil- 
son's lofty and immortal message of April 2nd filled him 
with gratitude and joy, and he declared that he had never 
before felt so proud and happy, for the nation had been 
placed upon the highest plane it had ever attained and at 
last he saw the realization of his dream of the unity and 
solidarity of the Anglo-Saxon race in the defense of democ- 
racy and humanity and of a common civilization. The mo- 
mentous events that followed the declaration of war by 
Congress were an immense comfort to him. He was inten- 
sely proud of the disinterested, altruistic pledge by our 
President of everything that we are and that we have in 
defense of the principles that gave our nation birth. He 
was intensely proud, exultingly proud, when America 
handed hundreds of millions of dollars to Great Britain and 
France to relieve their wants and distress. He was entitled 
to be proud ; for, in truth, Mr. Choate's spirit was much of 
the inspiration of the thrilling events in American history 

16 



which occurred during this period. And finally his last 
week on earth was indescribably happy, for he was able 
to extend to the English and French Commissions the greet- 
ings of his home city and the cordial and enthusiastic hos- 
pitality of the great and loyal community which he had 
served so long and so devotedly and which he honored so 
highly! 

Mr. President, if in coming years we are asked to point 
the moral of Mr. Choate's life, to declare in what particular 
quality he was preeminent, what was the richest of the 
legacies he left us, what made him the noble and lofty 
figure and extraordinary personality that he was, even more 
than his perfect courage — in a word, what is to us the high- 
est glory of such a life, shall we not answer that it was his 
character? The moral value to this community and to the 
whole nation of such a character is verily beyond all 
computation. 

In October, 1898, I had the honor to attend, as Mr. 
Choate's guest, the unveiling of the statue of Rufus Choate 
in the Court House at Boston. While Mr. Choate was de- 
livering his memorial oration, I felt and ever since have 
believed that in describing the high principles and moral 
standards that had animated and guided the life of his illus- 
trious kinsman, he was proclaiming those which dominated 
and controlled his own life. May I repeat to you what he 
then said of Rufus Choate? 

"And first, and far above his splendid talents and his 
triumphant eloquence, I would place the character of the 
man — pure, honest, delivered absolutely from all the tempta- 
tions of sordid and mercenary things, aspiring daily to 
what was higher and better, loathing all that was vulgar 
and of low repute, simple as a child, and tender and sympa- 
thetic as a woman. Emerson most truly says that character 
is far above intellect, and this man's character surpassed 
even his exalted intellect, and, controlling all his great en- 
dowments, made the consummate beauty of his life." And 
Mr. Choate then added — "The first requisite of all true 

17 



renown in our noble profession— renown not for a day or a 
life only, but for generations — is Character." 

Is it not true that these words apply even more truly 
to the great and noble man for whom we are mourning 
tonight, and that they might well be written as his epitaph? 

Two evenings before the end, Mr. Choate, having in- 
vited to his house a few friends to meet Mr. Balfour, after 
dinner broached to some of his guests the subject of the im- 
mortality of the soul. Those who had the privilege of hear- 
ing that discussion must always regard the event as memor- 
able and far more serious and significant than they then im- 
agined. Perhaps his lofty soul had a solemn premonition of 
the coming summons to enjoy the supreme reward of his 
staunch faith in the God of his fathers, and that he then 
felt, contentedly and serenely, that he would soon 

". . . sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach [his] grave 
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." 

THE PRESIDENT: I will ask Mr. Rushmore to address 
the Club. 

MR. CHARLES E. RUSHMORE: Mr. President, Mr. 
Depew, Gentlemen of the Club: 

I shall not attempt to add more than a few short and 
general words to the eloquent tributes that have been paid, 
and will be paid, tonight to the memory of Mr. Choate. 

I, also, was fortunate in having had personal association 
with Mr. Choate. Toward his juniors at the Bar his atti- 
tude was ever friendly, ever considerate, and never as- 
sumed a patronizing air. He took and held them captive 
by his kindly charm. In my first civil jury trial, Mr. Choate 
acted as the senior counsel. He entered into that trial out 
of friendship for my client, who had been his classmate at 
Harvard College. Three more instructive, more agreeable 
days, I never spent in a court room, than those in which I 
watched Mr. Choate in the handling of that case, which he 

is 



won, and for which service he would accept no fee from the 
friend of his youth. Later on through more frequent asso- 
ciations, I learned to know, to respect, and to admire his 
wonderful qualities of mind and of heart. 

Some men are born whose influence is so beneficent, so 
far reaching, so lasting, that their so-called death is not 
really a removal. They are in that respect like those re- 
mote stars whose shining rays shed undiminished light upon 
the world long after their physical bodies have disinte- 
grated. In such case death does not give immediate cause 
for grief. Who does not seem to die is not dead. 

In this Club, in this community, in the circles of the 
Bar in which he worked, in the broader world in which he 
lived, the light of the influence of Mr. Choate will not fade. 
There have been many famous men associated with the 
intimate history of this Club, but there has never been one 
who more truly represented its ideal spirit than did Mr. 
Choate. 

I am impelled to mention again the incident to which 
you, Mr. President, referred. I do so because it was so 
essentially characteristic of Mr. Choate. You will all re- 
member that but a few weeks ago, just prior to the declara- 
tion of war with Germany, he was speaking on this plat- 
form and said that if, in coming out to speak for his coun- 
try, it would be the final effort of his failing strength, he 
would nevertheless make that effort in furtherance of what 
he regarded to be his duty. How well he performed that 
duty in the subsequent days we all do know, as we know 
how truly in fact he died upon the firing line. 

There is no honor that this Club could pay to any man 
greater than that which it should pay to the memory of 
Joseph Hodges Choate. (Applause.) 

THE PRESIDENT : It is now my great privilege to pre- 
sent to the Club — not that he needs introduction — one whom 
we always delight to hear, in whose continued vigorous 

19 



youth we take the greatest satisfaction — always optimistic, 
always eloquent — our friend, Chauncey M. Depew! 
(Applause.) 

MR. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW: Mr. President and Fel- 
low Members: Language is inadequate to measure or 
describe the time in which we live. Events of incalculable 
importance to humanity and to government happen over 
night. The record of a month surpasses in its consequences 
the orderly processes of centuries. 

I have just returned from Washington where Congress 
is dealing with appropriations which stagger the imagina- 
tion and concentration of power in the hands of the few 
for efficiency in war never before contemplated. The ex- 
traordinary has become the usual in our thoughts and 
experiences. 

It is only a subject of importance which justifies a meet- 
ing under these conditions. We have had many memorable 
celebrations in this historic house. They have been in honor 
of Presidents of the United States, of Generals immortalized 
by great victories, and of Governors of States and diplomats 
of international renown. But we are met here tonight to 
pay our tribute, not only of respect and admiration, but also 
of affection for a fellow member and a former President of 
our Club, Joseph H. Choate, who in his long and distin- 
guished career held but one great office, and that late in 
life, but who when he died had a position which in a great 
and enlightened democracy is superior to any office — he 
was our first and foremost citizen. 

At a dinner given him last January in this Club, on the 
occasion of his eighty-fifth birthday, it was interesting to 
note in his speech what recollections were for him the most 
interesting. They were, his first speech in a presidential 
canvass, and his first fee as a young lawyer. Those who 
were privileged to hear him will recall with what charming 
picturesqueness he told of that first case, of his fee of two 
one dollar gold pieces, and of the recovery of one of them 
over fifty years afterwards from the descendants of a young 

20 



friend with whom he had divided his two dollars. The 
other reminiscence which he dwelt upon with equal pictur- 
esqueness was his speech made in 1856 for Fremont for 
President. He had preserved the poster and pointed with 
pride to the announcement that addresses should be given 
by Joseph H. Choate and James C. Carter. Both of them 
were young lawyers, recently arrived in New York to make 
their careers and their fortunes. What wonderful careers 
have been won in that sixty years. Choate easily had be- 
come the head of the Bar and of international fame, while 
his tribute to Carter, who died a few years ago, condensed 
in one sentence a wonderful eulogy, when he said: "The 
death of James C. Carter made room for a thousand 
lawyers." 

That he spoke in 1856 for Fremont was specially interest- 
ing to me, because I, too, just out of college, canvassed the 
country in the same cause. Both Choate and I spoke also 
for Hughes in the recent campaign. It is the only record 
I think of ardent orators of 1856 after sixty years still as 
ardent and quite as vigorous upon the platform for their 
party and its candidate. 

As President of the New York State Constitutional Con- 
vention, Mr. Choate revealed a capacity for managing a 
Legislative body and a constructive statesmanship in pre- 
paring the fundamentals of government in a written consti- 
tution which demonstrated the highest statesmanship. If he 
had spent most of his life in Congress, he would have ranked 
among the first statesmen to whom we owe the development 
of our institution. But Mr. Choate was of too independent 
a mind, and too rebellious a spirit, to succeed to office in 
strict party government. He was a party man, but never a 
partisan. The organization always feared him, and organi- 
zation leaders knew they could not control him, but his mar- 
velous faculty in presenting the principles and policies in 
which he believed brought the leaders instantly to him to 
make the keynote speech after they had built their plat- 
form and nominated their candidates. But if their platform 
and candidates did not meet his approval he would have 

21 



none of either. He was not a reforming crank nor a cranky- 
reformer, far from either. He recognized that there must 
be a larger surrender of individual purposes of its organi- 
zation, but when he distrusted the leaders or the candidates, 
or the purposes of the organization, he was instantly in 
revolt. 

Those who were closely associated with him at the Bar 
can speak more intimately of his career as a lawyer, and 
yet I had an opportunity of knowing his supreme ability in 
another way. I was a General Counsel for many years. 
The General Counsel as a rule is always near or within call 
of the Executive. If the Executive amounts to much, he 
must be one of those masterful men who, in accomplishing 
his will and what he believes necessary for the corporation 
of which he is chief, is rebellious and defiant of restraint. 
It is the General Counsel's business to keep the Executive 
from violating the law. So the General Counsel in admin- 
istering legal matters retains members of the Bar in differ- 
ent parts of the country. He thus has unusual opportunities 
to become familiar with their abilities and equipment. The 
two greatest lawyers I ever met under these conditions 
were William M. Evarts and Joseph H. Choate. They were 
partners, but both extraordinary in their knowledge of the 
law, in their singular power of discernment and discrimina- 
tion and in their wonderful faculty of so clarifying their 
case that it commanded the assent of the court and the con- 
viction of the jury. In one of the most famous of will cases, 
after it had dragged its weary length along for over two 
years, Mr. Choate was invited to take charge and in twenty 
days had broken down and destroyed the whole fabric so 
long elaborately and skillfully built by the contestants. 

In another case, certain transactions were continued for 
a number of years with a large firm, the members of which 
retired and passed the business over to their managers, with 
whom these same transactions and customers continued. 
The bankrupty of a principal led the receiver to bring an 
action against the members of the old firm on account of 

22 



what occurred during their period, and another action 
against the new firm for the transactions which continued 
with them. The facts were precisely the same and the 
principles governing them the same and the amount in- 
volved was very large. Mr. Choate represented part of the 
divided firm and some very excellent lawyers the other part. 
Mr. Choate won his case, the other part lost. Then when 
both came to the Supreme Court of the United States, 
Mr. Choate won for both. 

There never was a more remarkable partnership than 
William M. Evarts and Joseph H. Choate. Evarts was long 
the leader of the American bar, and Mr. Choate by general 
consent succeeded him. Mr. Evarts was not only our great- 
est lawyer, but he was also our keenest wit. Mr. Choate, in 
addition to his wonderful legal ability, was also a wit and a 
humorist of first order. He gave me a delightful account 
of his farewell to Mr. Evarts when he went to Great Britain 
as Ambassador. Mr. Evarts had been ill and confined to his 
bed for a long time and was gradually fading away. Evarts 
said to Choate, "I am delighted at your appointment. You 
have gained all the distinction possible in our profession. 
You are eminently fitted for this great place." Choate 
answered, "My only regret is leaving you after more than 
forty years of close association, without any differences or 
frictions, but when I come back I hope you will be restored 
to health and we shall resume together our old activities." 
"No, Choate," said Evarts, "I can never leave this room. 
I know I am a burden because of my helpless and hopeless 
condition. I feel like the schoolboy who wrote home to his 
mother a letter of twenty pages, and then added at the end, 
T. S. — Dear Mother, please excuse my longevity.' " 

The benchers of the Inner Temple are the most vener- 
able and the most authoritative body in Great Britain. One 
or two of the lawyers of the Colonial period, who emigrated 
to America, were benchers, but since the formation of the 
Kepublic, no American lawyer had been admitted to this 
distinction. But after Mr. Choate had been Ambassador 

23 



for several years, there was a new tie and a most unusual 
one created between the old country and the new. Mr. 
Choate had so impressed the judges and the lawyers of Eng- 
land that he was unanimously elected a bencher of the In- 
ner Temple. Coincident with the tributes to his memory, 
which are paid by his countrymen, are other tributes equally 
sincere, eloquent and convincing, from his brethren in this 
great and powerful company of the law, on the other side 
of the Atlantic. 

Many years ago Mr. Choate was elected President of the 
New England Society in New York, and continuously re- 
elected. After a little, his annual address became an event 
for its wit, humor and audacity. Its free handling of im- 
portant personages and current questions made an oppor- 
tunity to attend the New England dinner the most sought 
for privilege of the year. The occasion grew into national 
importance; men of the highest distinction and position 
gladly accepted invitations ; it was a free platform, and the 
broadest discussion was invited, providing it was not too 
long. Sumner came there with his ponderous periods and 
stately eloquence, and Roscoe Conkling was there at his 
best. So were Presidents and ex-Presidents of the United 
States, and with them great journalists and educators, but 
on these occasions, some of which were historic, the master 
mind was easily Joseph H. Choate. 

Mr. Choate believed with me that the mind is fresher 
and more capable of grasping the questions arising in one's 
vocation or profession, if there is relief in some other di- 
rection. We both found that in after-dinner speaking. For 
over forty years, many times during the season, we were on 
the same platform. I was a speaker with him at both the 
Irish and Scotch annual dinners, where his wit and audacity 
so amused and offended. When he suggested at the St. 
Patrick's Society, at a time when Home Rule had failed in 
Parliament and every office in New York was held by an 
Irishman, that the absence of governing talent from the 
other side had probably led to the failure of Home Rule 

24 



while that same talent transferred over here governed us 
absolutely, and that if they would go back home their abili- 
ties would undoubtedly secure the independence of Ireland 
and give the native Americans an opportunity to govern 
themselves, he did not mean to offend, but the whimsical and 
mischievous audacity of his humor was so strong, and his 
enjoyment of it so great, that while he did not mean to of- 
fend he did not care if objectors became angry. 

So at a Scotch banquet, I sat next to the Scotch Chief- 
tain, the Marquis of Aberdeen, then Governor General of 
Canada, a man of the highest distinction in public life and 
of family, who was the guest of honor. He was in the full 
regalia of his Highland Clan. Choate asked me if his legs 
were bare. After invesigation, I said, "Yes." When it be- 
came Mr. Choate's turn to speak, he could not resist this 
same whimsical, mischievous and audacious humor. He 
said, "If I had known that our distinguished friend was 
coming here to-night in the costume of his Clan, I would 
have left my trousers at home." 

This michievous humor made him the most delightful of 
companions at any function. I have been a member with 
him for more than a quarter of a century of a private dinner 
club. Its confidences were those of a family and there was 
no publicity whatever. The members were free to give 
their views frankly on all subjects and in the exchange of 
opinions and experiences Choate's contributions, if permit- 
ted to be published, would be an inexhaustible fund of wit 
and wisdom. At the dinners given me, purely private ones, 
by my wife on my birthday, Mr. Choate's toast and speech 
in that admirable combination of praise and mischief of 
which he was master was always the feature of the evening. 
On one occasion it had been suggested by the hostess to the 
architect of the table that it would be a delicate compliment 
if he would present the guest as Cicero in a miniature statu- 
ette delivering an oration. The architect from a photo- 
graph and personal acquaintance made an excellent likeness, 
but as his familiarity with Cicero was not with history, but 

25 



with Romans on the stage the figure did not have the toga 
of a Senator, but the belt and sword of a gladiator of ex- 
aggerated muscular development. Charles Lamb never did 
anything more delicious in its humor, more audacious or mis- 
chievous than Mr. Choate's picture of what would happen 
to the octogenarian orator as a gladiator. 

I have been going to Europe for half a century and 
thrown in intimate contact with our representatives abroad. 
We have been peculiarly happy in our ministers and Ambas- 
sadors to Great Britain. I saw much of Mr. Choate while 
he was in London and his popularity with both government 
and society was beyond that of the representative of any 
other country. Choate was the finest flower of democracy. 
He had no comprehension or respect for distinctions founded 
only upon family or pedigree. His easy familiarity with 
great personages never offended. He was accepted from 
the King to the commoner as an equal. King Edward, who 
was one of the most appreciative and capable of sovereigns 
delighted in Mr. Choate. In England political and social 
life are closely intermingled. Politics and government are 
largely run at the week-end parties in the country, and also 
those parties are the best part of the social life of Great 
Britain. The epigrams and stories from Parliament are 
large contributors to conversation at these gatherings. He 
had not been long there before he was more quoted than 
anybody, and his wit and wisdom repeated all over the 
land. His speeches at universities, on the platform, and 
especially at great dinners presented the rare combination 
seldom found in a speaker, of profound thought, pictur- 
esquely expressed and illumined by that light touch of the 
perfect artist which makes a disagreeable truth palatable. 

The world knew little of the valuable work done by our 
friend through his membership of public institutions. He 
did much for both our great museums of Art and of Natural 
History, and the Society for the the Blind owes its light- 
house to his efforts as its President. He took a deep interest 
in the American Indians, and the exploiters and rascals who 

26 



are always seeking to prey upon them by Congressional Leg- 
islation found in him an alert, resourceful and successful 
enemy. 

When we, who knew him so well, have passed away, pos- 
terity will inquire, "What was the secret of his great 
power?" I have heard most of the orators of my time of 
this and other countries. With the exception of Mr. Glad- 
stone, Wendell Phillips and Mr. Choate, I cannot recall any 
who had that elusive and indefinable quality which, beyond 
the argument or its setting, beyond the logic or its force, 
captured audiences and juries, which even penetrated and 
swayed the calmer judgment of the court. 

James M. Barrie, in one of his plays presents a master- 
ful woman of wonderful ability and genius, who makes out 
of a dull husband a success in politics and a leader in Parlia- 
ment. He is carried away by the flattery which comes to a 
position gained by his eloquence and leaves his wife to fol- 
low a society belle. His success is due to his speeches, all of 
which are written by his wife. The hard-headed Scotch 
brothers of the wife discussed how it was possible that the 
other lady so volatile could have led him away from so 
superior a woman as their sister. One of them solved the 
problem by saying, "It is her damn charm." When to that 
charm is added genius, the combination is irresistible. I 
have been present when Wendell Phillips swayed hostile 
audiences which had driven other orators of superior logic 
from the platform because they fell under the sway of the 
magnetism of his voice and manner. So Mr. Choate won 
victories in the courts where other great lawyers failed 
and captured audiences bored by other speakers. 

Our friend two years ago entered upon a new career. 
He was a man of peace and had devoted time and effort for 
the peace of the world. He left everything to go as Am- 
bassador to The Hague for that purpose, and was amazed 
although he did not comprehend it then, at the studied oppo- 
sition of the German representatives. As an international 
lawyer of great erudition he was shocked by the German 

27 



Chancellor's views that treaties are scraps of paper and at 
the atrocities in Belgium and France. But after the war 
had been in progress for less than a year he became con- 
vinced that it was a battle between autocracy and democ- 
racy in which the United States was vitally interested. He 
believed that if the Allies were defeated, Germany would 
then possess the resources of France, Great Britain would 
be helpless and the United States the next victim of ruth- 
lessness and spoliation. He was the first of our public men 
to preach preparedness and to insist upon our entrance into 
the war. Each new outrage upon our citizens drew from 
him a sterner and more emphatic declaration of our duty 
to freedom, humanity and the preservation of our own 
liberty. He hailed with approval and unstinted praise 
President Wilson's address to Congress and with that mag- 
nanimity, which was his characteristic, he withdrew the 
criticisms he had made against the President, saying, "He is 
right now. I can quite believe he was right all the time 
and only waiting for the opportune hour." 

At eighty-five years of age he was anxiously seeking 
where and how he might serve his country. When the 
Commissioners were sent from France and Great Britain 
he saw his opportunity and grasped and fulfilled its duties, 
though they were far beyond his strength. The last five 
days of his life will form an inspiring chapter in American 
history. This venerable American citizen, known and loved 
on both sides of the ocean, saw the great service he could 
perform in cementing the ties between the United States, 
France and Great Britain, so recently formed. He was 
Chairman of the Committee in the ceremonies on which 
rested the eyes of the whole world, for those ceremonies 
were to test the sincerity of the alliance. Thursday he met 
the French, Joffre, the great soldier, and Viviani, statesman 
and orator; rode with them through the crowded streets 
and avenues and assisted in their entertainment in the even- 
ing. Friday he accompanied them to the meeting with the 

28 



merchants of New York, where his speech compared favor- 
ably with the impassioned eloquence of the French orator. 
Friday he also met and received England's veteran and most 
accomplished statesman, Mr. Balfour, spoke to him on be- 
half of the American people at the City Hall and accom- 
panied him through the crowded streets. Again in the even- 
ing at a memorable banquet given by the Mayor of New 
York, where were gathered representative men from all 
parts of the country, in pathetic and stirring eloquence he 
expressed his delight at this union of English speaking 
peoples and this renewal of our old alliance with France 
for liberty and humanity, and then with that practical 
touch which always characterized his efforts, he put his 
fatherly hand on Colonel Roosevelt and said, "If our most 
and distinguished and best known citizen is willing to give 
the inspiration of his presence in Europe, and the possible 
sacrifice of his life to the cause, let him go." In advocating 
our government sending troops to France, he condensed the 
sentiment in a shout, "Hurry up." 

Saturday he escorted these great Commissions to the 
Chamber of Commerce where he again assured them that 
the enterprises, commerce and trade, represented in that 
venerable body were all pledged to victory. 

On Sunday he went with the representatives of Great 
Britain to the cathedral of St. John the Divine. He re- 
garded that solemn service as a consecration of the alliance 
as the National Anthems were followed by the prayer and 
praise and hope of the Christian Doxology. There were 
angel voices mingled with those of the cathedral choir, the 
great soul of Mr. Choate had been summoned and the gates 
of Heaven were ajar. Dying a few hours afterwards he 
said, "This is the end." The end, yes, of his earthly life 
only. His country and his countrymen will always cherish 
as an inspiration for succeeding generations a life so useful 
so full and so complete and a death preeminently in the 
service of his country, for democracy and for liberty. (Pro- 
longed applause.) 

29 



THE PRESIDENT : Gentlemen of the Club, it remains 
but to record our sentiment in the action which we shall 
take upon the resolutions which have been presented. 

It has been moved and seconded that these resolutions 
be adopted. 

(The motion was unanimously carried.) 

THE PRESIDENT: The meeting stands adjourned. 



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